Family and Running….in the SWAMP!

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Ok, I took a break per say, a long break. I enjoyed my summer with my girls and took off teaching my second graders with a bang. Now it’s that time, a new year and new resolutions and running! I may look into buying a treadmill next summer because that’s why I always stop my running, it’s just so darn HOT in South Louisiana. Anyway ok there was christmas…

And this happened…!!!

Sydney and Kate are so so excited about Disney world.. They started acting like this…

Then New Year’s Eve came along and T was snoring by 7:30 pm so I googled info on disneyworld!

And now my first running pic of myself.. For this year.. So listen.. If anyone actually reads this great! I need your help reminding me to get my butt up and run every day.. K, thanks.. Note to self.. If no one reads.. It’s a great diary to go back to years later! ( I reread through my last years posts tonight.. Nola half marathon, Dallas half, Ragnar SoCal, Kate’s state championship..) I loved looking back at the memories we made! Blogging from my phone.. Sorry if this post is misspelled or a little funky! See ya soon!

Super nice Elisabeth picked me up from the airport and we headed down to Orange County to meet up with our team for Van decorating!

We made it to Exchange 6 around 8:00am. We were waiting for the last runner from Van #1 to come in for the exchange. At this point Van 1 was on a break and Van #2 was starting up!

All smiles before we realized that the temperature was about to climb to a bajillion degrees Fahrenheit!

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts at Van #2 start!

This is where our runner ran to pass the slap bracelet for the exchange!

Exchange 6 and others waiting for their runner to come flying in.

Beautiful California with awesome new friends! In the middle, our super awesome driver Phil…he was so good y’all. He knew exactly where our runners were running and we never got lost. He got us to every exchange on time and was right there to high five us as we came in. I remember thinking toward the end of every run…where’s Phil? Where’s Phil? I knew when I saw him I was finishing up!

Our decorated van.. This is the only picture I have of our van..sorry..F- on that one.

This is what was holding up traffic when we were trying to catch up with our runner!… She was in the middle of the street and could care less that she was trucking along at .5miles per hour…

Look at the price of gas in California..(What?What?) ..in the swamp we think $3.76/gal is crazy…which it still is. I’m just thankful we haven’t reached $4.00/gal yet. Lovely economy..Thanks there Obama.. anyhoo..

One of the best parts of my trip…in Pt. Loma I found this girl! Mori is my best friend from 7th grade..I haven’t seen her in like 16 years…she lives in San Diego now! I can’t wait to return to SD and hang out with her in just 5 weeks!!!

The bestest Ashley figured I needed a souvenir from California..since after all, I KatieRUNSthis has renamed me the Touristy Runner..and the SoCal girls agree with her! I love taking lots of pics!

Me..last leg…San Diego Convention Center to National City…STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT AGAIN. This just doesn’t happen in the SWAMP..afterall we don’t even have caution lights..haha.

Part of my course! Lovely..didn’t get a pic of the vomit on the stairs I had to go up to get to these which I traveled down to cross Harbor Drive (i think)..

Voila! C’est Finis

( It’s finished..cajun French thank you very much)

Super Awesome Team and Experience

The finish was at Coronado Island… on the beach!!

Many hours later I was on my way back to Elisabeth’s apartment in L.A… This is the Ritz Carlton in downtown L.A…the bright lights in the back ground should be Staples Center where the Laker’s play.

Elisabeth’sparking garage/backyard-ish/front porch…that makes no since! How cool are those trees..nothing like that in Louisiana..Neato!

Saying Goodbye and Thank You to her for all of her kindness and generosity! You are awesome girlfriend! Thank you All so much for everything! Heather you were so great and helpful…along with all of Van 1!! Thanks so much! I don’t have a picture of the 12man SMCOL team yet…but here is the Ultra…

Congrats to you hardcore guys. You did awesome…y’all are all machines! And thanks to SarahOUal for putting all of this craziness together!

Finally…grub at the airport while waiting on my flight early Sunday morning..it was so good!

And I returned home to Louisiana around 5:30pm Central time to find this… my husband and his friend sitting on a swing they put together..so proud! It broke right before the picture was taken and I tried to get them sitting there still stunned but they jumped up too fast… I almost pee’d my pants laughing so hard at this pic moment! Love me some Loo-zee-ana and missed it as well! Rice and Gravy was consumed immediately after I took this picture! Crawfish coming shortly…like tonight!

FOLLOW US THROUGH TWITTER AT #SMCOL… we will be tweeting live coverage and updates of minute to minute Ragnar Socal action!!

It’s almost Ragnar time!! 6 woman Ultra Team and 12 woman regular relay!!! Oh, I’m the big #12 at the end…I joined on Easter Day! Yes, very last minute, but it’s been a blast just facebooking with them back and forth and trying to figure out everything I need!

Ragnar is the overnight running relay race that makes testing your limits a team sport. A team is made up of 6-12 individuals; each individual runs 3 legs. The legs of the race vary in difficulty and distance, from 3-8 miles, allowing elite and novice runners to run together. Over 2 days and 1 night, teams run across 200 miles of the country’s most scenic terrain. Pair that with crazy costumes, inside jokes, a great finish line party and unforgettable stories. Some call it a slumber party without sleep, pillows or deodorant. We call it Ragnar.

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We headed out early last Saturday for Kate’s Championship Game in Grand Lake, Louisiana (aka: literally the middle of no where) It’s actually near Lake Charles, La about an hour East of the Texas border.

Not only is she My star..she is actually the top score-er (?? ha) on her team and the Point Guard (she handles the ball well for a 10 year old..that may have something to do with her stepdad being an ex-college basketball player and working with her often!)

Coach Meghan during half time

#1- Lil Dribblers 9 & 10 yr old STATE CHAMPS (never lost a game this season :)

Super Excited to take a pic for me of course

Even more excited to take a pic WITH me…of course

Todd trying to pose as cool daddy for the camera..while I laugh at him..he couldn’t figure out why he could see himself while I took the pic (love my new phone!)

Best Pizza Around…Kate finally super happy to take a pic and show off her new kicks…

Look at the napkins at this little pizza place…all fancy in Louisiana..

Sunday morning before my final Run! (did two runs on Sunday..whoa)

Compressing all day…every day this week…

My Pro Compression Socks arrived and I compressed some more.. and Finally today…I’m off to A.R.T in an hour…getting ready for Cali in the morning!

Have you ever heard of A.R.T. (Active Release Technique)…triggers the point of muscle pain and with pressure and movement, releases the knots…(ouch) BUT I couldn’t live/run without this…it’s amazing what this has done for my IT bands, hammy, and piriformis issue I had after RnR Nola Half Marathon

I’m runner 10 next week for Ragnar Relays SoCal… I am a last minute sub. I’m nervous, yet excited! I’m nervous because I have never been to California much less run there. Hills..??? What are those??? Whewf.. this will be interesting.

Sydney and Kate have been asking me to make some crazy Spaghetti/Taco dish called Spaghetti Tacos..how original…They saw it on some Disney or Nickelodeon T.V. show…Here’s the outcome..which they thought was the best thing since sliced bread btw!

Excuse Kate’s fave plate..and that’s her thumb trying to make it talk to you!! My kids are so brilliant and imaginative..HA

My Uncle’s Camp and pond: Formally known as Sky Pond (my husband gets a kick out of the fact the my whole family continually says “Are you going to Sky Pond?” “We are going to Sky Pond?”…”Do you want to go to Sky Pond?”…he’s like..REALLY? do we have to continually refer to a camp in the middle of no where as “Sky Pond”..haha my family is NUTS!…Ok..So here is SKY POND at Easter!!

My girls and my Aunt playing some game..where the ball almost rolls into one of the ponds every time and everyone yells..”NOOO”… I didn’t get it…

Sooo… as of late yesterday evening I’m the newest member of the Team So Much Cooler Online Ragnar Relay, running from Huntington Beach to Coronado!! I’m so excited for this! More details to come soon!!

Now on to Easter, Family, and Fun!

I baked this with my girls…except they always forget to continue helping after about 10 minutes!

Well, I ended up working the expo for Gulf Coast Half Marathon Series. I didn’t realize how tired one’s legs could be after standing from 8am-8-pm. I was exhausted. Because of that AND other issues, I opted out of the Crescent City Classic, yes like a loser I know, but I’m ok with it because I DON’T run unless I feel 100% up for it. I would not have been able to give 100% Saturday morning. On a good note, I made it home to my husband and kiddos who were so excited that I came home! We slept in on Saturday morning and then divulged in Way To Much boiled Crawfish with my FAMILY!!! So I don’t regret running, but I’m pumped about “hardcoring” it this week!

That is my godchild, not happy about taking a pic. And I ate way too many of those white boxes..filled with yumm-i-licious!!

2011 Start of San Diego Marathon and Half Marathon..Bee-you-tee-full!!!

2011 Rock n Roll San Diego Half Marathon RACE BLING!!!!!

I booked my flight for San Diego!! All registered and read to go..OH the anticipation!

A SUPRISINGLY GREAT RUN FRIDAY!

I laid low after the Dallas Half Marathon for a few days, but I was anxious to run. Soooo Friday I put on the running shoes and decided to run for an hour..that’s all I had time for before my chiropractor appointment. I started off running about 8:40 mile for about .25 then something hit me and I was rolling (for me) and it felt good..7:45 pace ..WHATT??? I never run in the 7’s except for speedwork very occasionally. I continued to feel great for about a mile and a half…it caught up with me around mile 2 and I slowed down to what I thought would have been 8:20ish. I continued to push a little harder than normal for just a regular run and finished 3.1(5k) at 24.41… I was upset at first because I felt like I should have beat my 5k pr which is 24:29 but I realized that I had just ran a Regular Run Not a Race in just a few more seconds than my Race PR..I decided to catch my breath and do a recovery mile during mile 4 then by mile 5 I had picked it up to the 9’s and hit mile 5 at 44;20-ish. I decided to push the last 1.2miles and see what my 10K would turn out. I was good with anything because at this point I was running ok again and new it was going to be a decent time..especiall knowing that I walked a little after the 5k point and jog mile 4 at 11-12min pace. I ended up with a 54.41 10K which my PR is 53:14 and this was just a training run so I was happy. I ended up jogging to finish up with 7miles in 1:03:26. My first “long run” 7 mile train back in January for my first Half Marathon was around 1hour 14min…I dropped my 7 mile run by at least 11 minutes since January..that’s good new to me!!

CRESCENT CITY CLASSIC HERE I COME!!!!!!! I am running the Crescent City Classic in New Orleans next Saturday…hope it goes as well as this past Friday Run!!

Anyone else running the RnRSD or Crescent City Classic..Holla..we can meet and greet!!!!